The moment Collins announced she was a no on Blanche, you KNEW they had the votes.
Christian Mole
@kentishmole.bsky.social
Based in Chislehurst, Kent. Retail & hospitality M&A advisor. Labour Party activist. Armchair mountaineer.
@therestpolitics.bsky.social how on earth did Alistair allow Rory to get away with his comment on this weeks podcast that U.K. industrialisation was due to net zero & energy costs? What about the LT decline propagated by the Thatcher government & allowed to continue as we became a services economy?
That Polanski interview in Newsnight has to be a textbook example of how not to do damage control. Just comes across as someone who doesn’t pay attention whatsoever to what he’s doing on social media. One thing being authentic when you’re competent, this is just authentically incompetent
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social is running rings around @zackpolanski.bsky.social on @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social . Amusing to watch - He really doesn’t know when to stop digging. This new martyrdom attitude he has adopted isn’t particularly gratifying either
Usual shallow level of debate chaired by Laura Kuenssberg. Just stuck to the usual tropes of using welfare to fund the defence ask. Absolutely no discussion of the tremendous inefficiencies in defence procurement or whether pensions triple lock should be a source of funding.
Media sanewashing in action: "tense interview... ended suddenly." Erm, no. It was a madman screaming at a journalist, saying he won an election he didn't, going red (orange?) in the face, calling the journalist "crooked" and "darling", calling every media outlet "crooked", and then walking out.
Axios@axios.com · 2mo agoNBC's tense Trump interview jumped from Iran to Jan. 6, then ended suddenly
Please listen to Zia Yusuf here. Those caring eyes. That sympathy. That empathy.❤️🩹 He & Reform have done exactly what The Nowak Family wanted: instigated riots, violence, division & social unrest. …Erm that is what The Nowak Family wanted I presume? 😳
It's not unlike watching current coverage of net zero or the EU prior to 2016 or Boris Johnson's ascent to power or Liz Truss taking control of the Treasury or Donald Trump etc etc. The BBC should be a bulwark against obvious propaganda & demonstrable lies, not an 'impartial' chronicler of it...
Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe way the entire British media is suddenly discussing 'two tier policing' as if it is a real thing worth seriously debating, rather than the obvious far-right white supremacist fantasy it has always been, is very alarming
They are all very deliberately ignoring the express wishes of Henry Nowak's family; the judge's sentencing report & the obvious, albeit brief, consequences of a crime being reported exclusively by a lying associate of the perpetrator. It may feel futile but this has to be repeated again & again.
Also, here’s the relevant #StrongMessageHere Ep. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Strong Message Here - AI Hallucinations (with Stewart Lee and Sarah Wynn-Williams) - BBC Sounds
Sarah Wynn-Williams joins Armando and Stewart Lee to talk all things AI.
bbc.co.uk
Armando Iannucci@aiannucci.bsky.social · 2mo agoGood book. Well worth buying. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Nine of the more repellent things that Reform UK candidate in the Makerfield by-election Robert Kenyon has posted on social media in recent years.
9 Of The Most Shocking Unearthed Comments From Reform's Makerfield Candidate
Robert Kenyon has faced accusations of misogyny and homophobia as a result of his past social media posts.
huffingtonpost.co.uk
“A Reform UK councillor who vowed to try and address anti-social behaviour and "people feeling unsafe" during her campaign was convicted of assault four months before the local elections.”
Reform St Helens councillor assaulted woman while working pub doors
The Labour Party has said it is "deeply concerned" by Reform's vetting procedures.
bbc.co.uk
EXCL: Reform UK’s leading figures have repeatedly promoted new pothole-fixing machine by construction company JCB, while party received £200,000 from British digger maker @rowenamason.bsky.social reveals www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Dig deep! Reform frontbench promotes JCBs after £200,000 donation from firm
Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Robert Jenrick, among others, have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro
theguardian.com
@ryangilbey.bsky.social insomnia only No 18? Surely not. But very glad to see the recognition for Looking For Richard
@timdowling.bsky.social so did it ever turn up? And which courier???
Bosch probably one of the most relevant artists for the Trump era, along with Goya
ArtButMakeItSports@artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe Garden of Earthly Delights (detail), by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480-1505, 📸 by @alexbrandon
I feel much more anger towards the British pundits & politicians who failed to understand the depravity & derangement of Donald Trump than I do the ones who failed to understand the idiocy of Brexit. But it doesn’t really matter because they’re exactly the same bloody people.
@stephenking.bsky.social review suggests this is worth a read - would you agree? www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...
Monsters in the Archives by Caroline Bicks review – the writing secrets of Stephen King
A deep dive into the horror novelist’s archives reveals pedantry, penny-pinching, and a total redraft of Carrie
theguardian.com
Not a good look for the Greens: www.standard.co.uk/news/politic... #london
Green Party candidate shared conspiracy theory about ambulance arson
A Green Party candidate standing in Havering at the local elections on May 7 suggested the attack on Jewish ambulances could have been carried out by Jewish people
standard.co.uk
Depressingly predictable. Though still shocking
Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social · 4mo ago❗❗ FT exclusive: A broker for Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter www.ft.com/content/744e...
NEW: Reform UK risks breaching data protection laws with its competition to win free energy bills for a year, lawyers & data experts warn. Entrants have to disclose not only name, email & number, but also how they voted at last election and intend to at next one www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reform UK may breach data laws with free energy bills competition
Experts say Nigel Farage’s party is not being transparent about how it will use data it collects on people’s voting habits
theguardian.com
Richard Tice: - engaged in highly aggressive tax avoidance to avoid nearly £600,000 of tax - did so at a time when the taxpayer was already paying his salary as an MEP Nothing patriotic about this party of grifters www.thetimes.com/article/6f55...
Reform’s Richard Tice avoided nearly £600,000 in tax
The deputy leader’s property company paid nothing in corporation tax on multimillion-pound profits for most of 2018-21
thetimes.com
Fear not, King Donnie The Mad, the UK will be sending 4 of our finest, posthaste! The good news is they love you, they love MAGA, they're very pro-war, and they've been just itching to get involved in fighting Iran. The bad news is it's these 4 and we're sending them in a dinghy!
Anthony Painter@anthonypainter.bsky.social · 5mo ago"the war is won. SOS."
"Covid will be over in two weeks. Gone by Easter" "We're signing a health care plan within two weeks" "They’re dying, Russians & Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours" Based on his record, this isn’t ending anytime soon.
@itvpeston.bsky.social With Claire Short Peston and Crerar scraping the bottom of the barrel in identifying their compulsary left winger to complain about how “Labour isn’t my party etc etc”. Who can we expect next week? Derek Hatton? Arthur Scargill?
“We are at war. The difference is, we're not joining the war. We're in the war.” Kemi Badenoch's spokesperson had, it is fair to say, a few issues in explaining her position on the Iran conflict after PMQs.
